Personal Health Record Use by Adolescents
John D. Halamka, MedCity News
“In response to many questions about PHR use by adolescents, I asked Fabienne Bourgeois, the expert at Children’s Hospital Boston, to write this guest blog post –
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Adolescents
Study: Calling all diabetic gamers!
Jeff Byers, CMIO
“Get ready to add “gamification” to your latest buzzword toolkit. Researchers from Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Techna Institute, University Health Network in Toronto, found that using an mHealth diabetes application (app) with the use of gamification incentives showed an improvement in the frequency of blood glucose monitoring in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
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Effect of a Text Messaging Intervention on Influenza Vaccination in an Urban, Low-Income Pediatric and Adolescent Population A Randomized Controlled Trial
Stockwell MS et al, JAMA, 307(16)
Context
Influenza infection results in substantial costs, morbidity, and mortality. Vaccination against influenza is particularly important in children and adolescents who are a significant source of transmission to other high-risk populations, yet pediatric and adolescent vaccine coverage remains low. Traditional vaccine reminders have had a limited effect on low-income populations; however, text messaging is a novel, scalable approach to promote influenza vaccination.
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How Do Adolescents Access Health Information? And Do They Ask Their Physicians?
Ettel III G et al, The Permanente Journal, 12(1)
Objective:
To improve understanding about how high school students use electronic tools to obtain health information and how this information affects their behavior.
Design/Methods:
Using a cross-sectional design, we administered an anonymous survey to high school students in grades 9 through 12 at a single private Catholic high school, inquiring about their use of electronic tools to obtain health information, topics of interest, sources used to obtain information, and modifications in their behavior based on that information. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance were used to compare trends across grade levels.
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Efficacy of a text messaging (SMS) based smoking cessation intervention for adolescents and young adults: Study protocol of a cluster randomised controlled trial
Haug S et al, BMC Public Health, 12(1)
BACKGROUND:
Particularly in groups of adolescents with lower educational level the smoking prevalence is still high and constitutes a serious public health problem. There is limited evidence of effective smoking cessation interventions in this group. Individualised text messaging (SMS) based interventions are promising to support smoking cessation and could be provided to adolescents irrespective of their motivation to quit. The aim of the current paper is to outline the study protocol of a trial testing the efficacy of an SMS based intervention for smoking cessation in apprentices.
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Parents want to see health files
Andrew Tillett, The West Australian
“A family group has attacked plans to allow children as young as 14 to stop their parents from accessing their personal electronic health records.
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Teens to control own e-health records
Peter Jean, The Canberra Times
“Teenagers will be able to stop their parents accessing their personally controlled electronic health records which are due this year.
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Young people’s views on the potential use of telemedicine consultations for sexual health: results of a national survey
Garrett CC et al, BMC Infectious Diseases, 11(1)
BACKGROUND:
Young people are disproportionately affected by sexually transmissible infections in Australia but face barriers to accessing sexual health services, including concerns over confidentiality and, for some, geographic remoteness. A possible innovation to increase access to services is the use of telemedicine.
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How adolescents use SMS (short message service) to micro-coordinate contact with youth mental health outreach services
Furber GV et al, The Journal of Adolescent Health, 48(1)
BACKGROUND
Mobile phones play a central role in the lives of young people and are being increasingly recognized as valuable tools in health care. However, there is a paucity of studies exploring the use of mobile phones in youth outreach mental health services. Our outreach team’s experience is that enabling youth to access their therapist directly through mobile phone improves engagement and retention, and short message service (SMS) in particular, is a useful tool for coordinating appointments. The purpose of this study was to audit the content of SMS exchanges between therapists and clients and to investigate the extent of inappropriate SMS use.
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Determining the Impact of Text Messaging for Sexual Health Promotion to Young People
Gold J et al, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 38(4)
Background:
The use of new technologies, such as mobile phones and internet, has increased dramatically in recent years. Text messages offer a novel method of sexual health promotion to young people who are the greatest users of new technology and are also at high risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Methods:
In January 2008, young people aged between 16 and 29 years were recruited from a music festival in Melbourne, Australia. They completed a short survey and were asked to provide their mobile phone numbers. Participants received fortnightly short messaging service (SMS) relating to sexual health for 4 months, and then completed an online follow-up survey. Survey data were weighted to account for those lost to follow-up. McNemar’s test was used to compare changes in survey responses.
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Can Text Messaging Improve Medication Adherence?
HealthCanal
“Text messaging and adolescents don’t always mix well, but researchers at National Jewish Health hope text messages can spur teenagers to take their asthma medications more reliably.
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Cell phone usage among adolescents in Uganda: acceptability for relaying health information
Mitchell KJ et al, Health Education Research, 2011
The increase in cell phone use has manifested a growing interest in using this technology for health promotion. The portability and ‘always on’ features of the cell phone, along with increasing capability for the devices to carry and transfer data suggest that they will reach more people than computers and the Internet in coming years. Self-reported quantitative survey data from 1503 secondary school students in Mbarara, Uganda collected in 2008-2009 suggest that 27% currently have cell phones and about half (51%) of all students and 61% of those who owned a cell phone believe that they would access a text messaging-based HIV prevention program if it were available.
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Interactive Games to Promote Behavior Change in Prevention and Treatment
Read JL, Shortell SM. JAMA, 2011
Anyone who has observed someone deeply absorbed in a video game can appreciate that use of these games is a uniquely powerful interaction. For the player, time stands still and self-consciousness disappears. Csikszentmihalyi described this state as “flow.” His concept was exemplified by mountain climbers living in the moment of ascent or surgeons lost in a delicate and demanding task. He could just as well have been describing what happens when individuals engage with some of today’s interactive games.
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Living Profiles: design of a health media platform for teens with special healthcare needs
Chira P et al, Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 43(5 Suppl)
Living Profiles is a health media platform in development that aggregates multiple data flows to help teens with special healthcare needs (SHCN), particularly with regard to self-management and independence. A teen-oriented personal health record (PHR) incorporates typical teen behaviors and attitudes about health and wellness, encompasses how teens perceive and convey quality of life, and aligns with data related to their chronic medical condition. We have conceived a secure personalized user interface called the Quality of Life Timeline, which will assist with the transition from pediatric care to an adult provider through modules that include a mood meter, reminder device, and teleport medicine. With this personalized PHR, teens with SHCN can better understand their condition and its effects on daily activities and life goals and vice versa; additionally, use of this PHR allows for better information sharing and communication between providers and patients. The use of a teen-oriented tool such as Living Profiles can impact teens’ overall quality of life and disease self-management, important attributes for a successful transition program.
Privacy and prejudice: Young people’s views on the development and use of Electronic Patient Records
The Royal Academy of Engineering
“Breathing Country was a nationwide public engagement programme about Electronic Patient Records (EPRs) and their use in medical research. A suite of activities were delivered as part of the programme, including the development and UK tour of a play and post-performance debate about EPRs, the provision of online supporting materials and a public attitudes research project.
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Telepsychiatry assessments of child or adolescent behavior disorders: a review of evidence and issues
Diamond JM, Bloch RM. Telemedicine and e-Health, 16(6)
BACKGROUND:
The limited number of mental health specialists for children has led to an increased need for child and adolescent psychiatrists to provide primary care consultations and treatment recommendations. Psychiatric assessments and treatments provided via two-way videoconferencing (telepsychiatry) have been used to increase the availability of child psychiatrists. This article reviews the literature on telepsychiatry assessment of children and adolescents.
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Internet, salud y jóvenes
Miguel, Salud con cosas
“Curioseando la revista Atención Primaria nos tropezamos con el artículo “Uso de Internet por parte de los adolescentes de Gijón (Asturias) como fuente de información sobre salud”.
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GGZ Amsterdam lanceert website: MindMasters.nl
Janine Budding, Medicalfacts
“Veel Amsterdamse jongeren die lijden aan psychische problemen kunnen sinds vandaag anoniem een mentale check doen op internet. De Geestelijke Gezondheidszorg (GGZ) Amsterdam lanceerde vandaag de website MindMasters.nl.
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¿Echamos unas partidas?
aguitarte, Somos Medicina
“Durante el evento de Salud 2.0 hice referencia a la mentalidad hacker aplicada a la Medicina. Los ingenieros de la Universidad Rutgers han tomado este concepto de forma literal y han hackeado una Play Station 3. El objetivo, ayudar a jóvenes que sufren parálisis cerebral a mejorar sus funciones motoras manuales.
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Child and adolescent telepsychiatry: variations in utilization, referral patterns and practice trends
Myers KM et al, J Telemed Telecare, 16(3)
Seattle Children’s Hospital is a tertiary referral hospital that has provided telepsychiatry to seven partner sites in the north-west since 2001. Service utilization data, patient demographics and diagnoses were collected for the period from the service inception in October 2001 until November 2007. During the study period, 701 patients were treated with a mean of 2.8 appointments per patient (SD 1.9). Five psychiatrists and four psychologists provided care. Utilization varied across referring sites and was largely dependent upon the availability of telepsychiatrists, although the degree of support from administration and stakeholders also contributed to the success of the service. A total of 190 primary care practitioners referred patients to telepsychiatry, including 106 family physicians and 71 paediatricians. Paediatricians referred to the service more frequently than family physicians (t = 2.8, P < 0.05).
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